Actavis (NYSE: ACT) reported Q1 EPS of $3.49, $0.26 better than the analyst estimate of $3.23. Revenue for the quarter came in at $2.66 billion versus the consensus estimate of $2.59 billion.

"Actavis began 2014 with our strongest quarter ever, bolstered by growth across our global business," said Paul Bisaro, Chairman and CEO of Actavis.

"Overall revenue growth of 36 percent in our commercial pharmaceutical business benefitted from the continued strength of our generics business, resulting from the launch of our generic Micardis® in the U.S. and continued strong sales of the generic versions of Lidoderm® and Cymbalta®. Our North American Brands, which includes the benefit of the expanded portfolio resulting from the acquisition of Warner Chilcott in October 2013, saw continued strong sales of core products in the U.S., including Rapaflo® and Generess® Fe. We also saw growth in international operations, driven by strong sales and new product launches in key countries including the UK, Russia and Sweden.

"Along with solid performance that exceeded our forecast, we continued to focus on future growth drivers through investment in R&D across the business, and within the U.S. generic business, the announcement of a patent settlement for our generic version of Daytrana®, and initiation of patent challenges on a number of products, including generic forms of Treanda®, Multaq® and Colcrys®. Additionally, on April 1, 2014, we completed the divestiture of our generics commercial operations in seven markets in Western Europe to Aurobindo Pharma Limited.

"Finally, we continued to focus on business development initiatives to redefine our leadership position in specialty pharmaceuticals, with the announcement in February of the proposed acquisition of Forest Laboratories. If successfully completed later this year, this transaction will create an innovative new model in specialty pharmaceuticals and enhance our company's organic growth profile well into the next decade. We also strengthened our commercial business in southeast Asia with the acquisition in April of Silom Medical in Thailand."

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